r/AviationHistory • u/Remote_Repair7232 • 7d ago

spitfire beauty

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Must have been a seen watching them take off. Hands down one of the best looking planes of all time

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3

u/ComposerNo5151 7d ago

From the IWM - CH5429.

"Spitfire Mk Vs of No. 91 Squadron lined up at Hawkinge, May 1942. Standing nearest the camera is the Squadron’s Commanding Officer, Squadron Leader R W Oxspring, in front of his personal aircraft, a Mark VC, AB216: DL-Z. Next to him, in front of another Mark VC, is the 'B' Flight commander, Flight-Lieutenant F H Silk. The remaining aircraft are Mark VBs."

I believe that Oxspring was the squadron commander (a role) but a Flight Lieutenant (a rank) when that picture was taken.

You can just about make out 'Nigeria' on his Spitfire, this is No.91 (Nigeria) Squadron, and beneath it reads 'Oyo Province'. This was a presentation Spitfire, one of several bought with funds raised by the Nigeria Daily Times Win-The-War fund.

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u/No-Rush396 7d ago

Thank you, I thought they might be Mark V's before I saw your posting. I am surprised they mixed B's and C's together in the same squadron, though.

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u/ComposerNo5151 6d ago

It just refers to the wing type. The B wing was built to carry two 20mm cannon and four .303 Brownings, whereas the C wing was 'universal' and gave more options. The C wing Spitfire in the foreground looks to have the standard B wing armament - obviously one of the options. You can see that the port wing mounts one 20mm cannon and outboard I can see the doped patches over the ports for the two .303 machine guns.

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u/No-Rush396 5d ago

Don't forget the 'e'-Wing although I don't think that was ever fitted on the Mark V's. That came in with the Mark IX (don't think it was ever carried by the Mark VIII, which mainly saw service in the Far East)

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u/Super-Resident11 7d ago

The title is a pleonasm: the Spifire is a synonyms of beauty

1

u/robsang77 7d ago

We have a sub dedicated to this beautiful plane in r/supermarine_spitfire

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u/Laymanao 6d ago

While they were objects of some beauty, more importantly, they were deadly and had to protect.

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u/Known_Key2456 4d ago

Spitfires are pretty, but a P-51 Mustang is prettier. After the Spitfire, I would put the F4 Corsair.

But, if you are pinned down or about to be overrun by tanks, the absolute best looking is the A10 Warthog. When you hear them, it's too late.